Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-three research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, thirty-one have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $201.46.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $181.96 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $207.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.84 and a 200-day moving average of $177.57.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.